


If I Know You, I Know What You'll Do

by blancafic



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied Spoilers for 5x22, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, S5e22 The End, post 5x22
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 10:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14809262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blancafic/pseuds/blancafic
Summary: What if Jemma didn't wake up Fitz from the cryo freeze? What will he find 74 years from now?





	If I Know You, I Know What You'll Do

74 YEARS LATER  
365 MILLION MILES FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE

In the future, the timer will count down to zero. It's going to take a minute, but Fitz's eyes will pop open and he'll take his first breath in 74 years. Soon, Enoch's head will appear through the window, giving Fitz's weak vision a break from the glare of the bright lights above.

"Good morning, Fitz. Rise and shine," Enoch will say. He will be dressed in the same suit he wore when Fitz went into the pod, the only thing Fitz has ever seen him wear.

The chamber lid will lift with a whooshing sound. The air in the room, which is actually a berth on a spaceship, will be stale, but warm. It's going to feel good rushing over his still-thawing skin. His muscles will be sore, but they'll answer his command to move as he gingerly sits up. Enoch will wrap a blanket around his shoulders and help him stand.

"I have good news and bad news," he'll tell Fitz in that strange monotone voice of his. "Which would you like to hear first?"

Still getting his bearings after 74 years of frozen sleep, Fitz won't be able to answer right away. He will try to clear the fuzziness from the edges of his memory, to focus on the task at hand and the woman who is never far from his mind.

"Just tell me, did we make it? Is this the future?" he will ask.

"It is the year two zero nine one, yes," Enoch will answer. "But much has changed since we last spoke."

Fitz won't like where this is going. He'll get a cold, sinking feeling that has nothing to do with the after-effects of the cryo freeze.

"What do you mean? What's changed?"

"The future. Which is now the present. Your friends managed to prevent the extinction-level event young Robin Hinton predicted. The Earth is intact. That is the good news."

They bloody did it, Fitz will think. They saved the world. Again. He will be genuinely happy to hear it, even if it does prove him wrong on some accounts. He will be anxious to congratulate them.

"Are they here? Take me to them."

"That would be the bad news," Enoch will say with the exact same intonation in which he delivered the good news. "They achieved this victory by returning to the past, not long after they left, and altering the events that destroyed your planet. Their actions to save humanity are part of history now. Long since passed."

Hearing this will make Fitz's stomach churn and his temper red-hot. He will raise his voice and speak each syllable in slow, clipped tones through gritted teeth. Enoch will remain unaffected by this outburst.

"You mean to tell me that I froze myself for  _74 YEARS_ for _nothing_? Everything's fine now and they're all just . . . what? Gone? Dead?"

His voice will break on the last word and his eyes will be glassy with unshed tears. In anger and frustration, Fitz will slam down the lid of the cryo chamber with great force. This action will reveal an identical chamber next to it, previously obstructed from view by the open lid. He'll look up at Enoch in shock.

"Not all of them," Enoch will say.

Fitz will walk around to the front of the second chamber so he can peer inside. He will go slowly, knowing what he hopes to find, unsure whether he'll survive if he finds anything else. He doesn't need to worry, though. Through the window he will see her face, pale and expressionless. It will still be the most beautiful thing he's ever seen.

"I informed Miss Simmons when she found us that the chamber program was on a fixed timer and could not be stopped or altered without serious damage to your circulatory and nervous systems."

"Hmm?"

He will only hear some of Enoch's explanation, because the timer on Jemma's pod is approaching zero. He won't hold his breath -- because his brain was once starved for oxygen and it's something he'll never take for granted again -- but he will watch without blinking until he sees her breathe again.

"She said that if she couldn't wake you up she wanted to be frozen as well, so that she would be here with you when you reached the future. She was quite insistent."

He will recall the time he said she wasn't romantic and mentally take back those words. If he hadn't already planned to propose as soon as he found her in the future, he would be dead set on it now. He'll wonder, not for the first time, what he ever did to deserve this amazing woman.

The timer will reach zero and he'll watch in awe as she comes to life before his eyes. The first thing she'll see is his face through the window. They'll share a smile, full of warmth, understanding, and love. So much love. And all will be right with the world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, look at that. Fitz finally got his Simmons-in-a-box. 
> 
> Anyway, this was just little writing experiment I did to challenge myself. Special thanks to LibbyWeasley for volunteering to be my first AoS beta and for being generally awesome. Thanks for reading!


End file.
